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Overview
Hedera Hashgraph is an enterprise-friendly distributed ledger platform that uses a patented consensus algorithm called Hashgraph to achieve fast, secure, and fair transactions. The platform aims to provide high throughput, low latency, and distributed network infrastructure for developers and enterprises looking to build decentralized applications (dApps), tools, and services. Hedera Hashgraph uses a novel approach to consensus, which enables the network to process thousands of transactions per second without relying on mining or proof-of-work mechanisms. Additionally, the platform offers smart contract capabilities, token issuance, and NFT (Non-Fungible Token) support, making it a comprehensive solution for building DLT tools.
Economics
The Hedera network generates value through its many service offerings, such as Schedule Service, File Service, and Token Service, which ultimately serves as a launching point for other enterprises to build and deploy Web3 applications and products. This value is facilitated through Hedera’s native token HBAR, which is used to settle on-chain transaction fees to pay for Hedera services.
HBAR Token
The HBAR token is responsible for the transfer of value across the Hedera network. HBAR is an ERC-20 token as it was built overtop the Ethereum blockchain and conforms to the Ethereum token standard. However, HBAR is used directly on the Hedera network, not on Ethereum itself. The HBAR token itself is ranked within the top 35 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization as of Q2 2023, with a market cap of just over $2 billion. HBAR’s value floats at approximately $0.07 in 2023, roughly 88% below its all-time high valuation of $0.56 prior to its decline during the 2022 bear market.
As of 2023, HBAR has a circulating supply of 30.6 billion tokens, with a maximum supply of 50 billion tokens. Over the course of Q1 2023, an additional 5 billion HBAR, which represents 10% of the total supply, was released into circulation. This uptick can be attributed to a payment made by Hedera to Swirlds Labs for outsourced work. Swirlds Labs, as per their operating model, receives advance payment for their services. As the company disclosed in a blog post, they anticipate utilizing the coins allocated for their 2024 operating expenses no earlier than January 2024.
~1.275B HBAR worth ~$77.3 million (2.5% of total supply) unlocked on the 1st of June, 2023.
